Arts grants

THUMBS UP: The Prairie Lakes Arts Council announced $16,000 worth of grants are coming to Brown County to support arts programs or events. We congratulate the three groups receiving the funds.

New Ulm Actors Community Theater (NUACT) has received $8,000 to help fund its season. The organization has grown greatly in the past couple of years and now has a home in the former Middle School Auditorium. There is a lot of work and expense involved in improving the auditorium, and it putting on some great shows. The money will be well used.

The New Ulm Christkindlmarkt had a great success last year at the New Ulm Event Center and will use the $4,000 grant for this year’s event.

And the Irish Cultural Society of New Ulm, which is putting on the 50th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New Ulm, is celebrating with an Irish Fest which will include some REAL events, funded by the $4,000 grant it received.

Congrats to all.

Nobel Peace Prize

THUMBS UP: This is the week the Nobel prizes were announced, and on Friday, the Nobel Committee announced its Peace Prize would go to Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old girl from Pakistan who survived an Taliban assassination attempt to become a leading advocate for education for girls, and Kailash Satyarthi of India, who has fought for years to free poor children from the slavery, harsh labor and child trafficking that so many endure.

They chose a Hindu man and a young Muslim woman from two neighboring but adversarial countries, who are both overdue for the award. Satyarthi has been doing his work for decades, and Malala was the odds-on favorite to receive the Peace Prize last year.

The award recognizes that the fight for children’s rights transcends religion and political borders. It is an inspired and inspiring selection by the Nobel committee.

A great shot

THUMBS UP: Jason Tauer was at the right place, at the right time, with the right camera equipment to get a great picture this week of the red-tinted lunar eclipse hovering just over the Hermann Monument. We saw a link to the photo on his Facebook page, and knew we wanted to use that picture. He graciously allowed us permission to use his photo on our front page, which got some nice comments from readers.

Thank you, Jason, for sharing your talent with us and the readers of The Journal.